Unperson exhibited in Prague
My Photography Featured at Prague's Largest-Ever North Korea Exhibition
In May 2026, my Unperson portrait series was featured as a central part of Život za zdmi: Severní Korea (Life Behind Walls: North Korea), described by Czech media as the largest and most complex exhibition about North Korea ever held in the Czech Republic — and one of the most significant in Europe.
About the Exhibition
The project was conceived and led by Czech koreanist and award-winning author Nina Špitálníková, whose books about life in the DPRK — including Testimonies of Life in the DPRK, winner of the prestigious Magnesia Litera literary prize — have made her one of the foremost voices on North Korea in Central Europe. Running from 8 to 20 May 2026 in Holešovická Tržnice (Hall 13) in Prague, the immersive multimedia festival brought together documentary photography, personal testimonies from North Korean refugees, architectural installations, and educational programmes for children and adults — spread across 1,500 square metres of exhibition space.
The Czech cultural publication Aktuálně.cz described the exhibition as "unprecedented," noting that it "connects, for the first time in the Czech Republic, authentic photography from the DPRK, personal testimonies of North Korean refugees through their portraits and life stories, and interactive educational installations."
How Unperson Was Used
My portrait series Unperson formed a significant visual component of the exhibition. As Aktuálně.cz specifically reported, the portraits of North Korean refugees that I have been making as part of Unperson were exhibited to give the stories of defectors a human face — placing viewers not simply in front of data or testimony, but in front of people. Each portrait was presented alongside the individual's personal story: their account of life inside the DPRK, their escape, and what freedom has meant to them since.
The GoOut festival platform and Czech Television's cultural programme (ČT art) both noted that my work as the author of the Unperson series was integral to giving the festival its visual identity alongside the spatial design by architect Barbara Bencová.
About Unperson
Unperson is my long-term documentary photography project focused on North Korean refugees — people who, having escaped one of the world's most closed and repressive regimes, find themselves in a paradoxical position: free, but effectively erased from the country that formed them. The project takes its name from the concept, familiar from Orwell, of a person whose existence is denied by the state. Through portraiture and testimony, Unperson attempts to restore visibility to individuals the DPRK regime would prefer the world forget.
The series sits alongside my other long-term documentary work, including Metamorpolis, my study of mass urbanisation and displacement in Chongqing, China. Both projects share a common thread: an interest in what happens to individuals caught inside forces — political, economic, demographic — far larger than themselves.
Documentary Photography and Human Rights
Being part of Život za zdmi was a reminder of why long-form documentary photography still matters. Exhibitions like this one — ambitious in scale, rigorous in their sourcing, and genuinely concerned with reaching audiences beyond the usual gallery-going public — are rare. The fact that school groups were booking out the festival's educational programme weeks in advance, and that over 1,500 people attended Nina Špitálníková's book tour ahead of the opening, suggests a genuine public hunger for serious engagement with difficult subjects.
If you are interested in Unperson — whether for editorial use, exhibition, or publication — you can find more information on this site or get in touch directly.
Tim Franco is a documentary and commercial photographer based across Asia, founder of Propaganda Studio. His documentary work includes the long-term projects Metamorpolis (Chongqing) and Unperson (North Korean refugees).